buried in sand

Two veteran data scientists want to empower companies to turn their digital clutter into actionable intelligence.

That’s the idea behind the Metanautix Quest Data Compute Engine, which launched recently to provide a way to get information out of the data companies already have, instead of building up an entirely new database.

It’s the work of Theo Vassilakis and Toli Lerios. The pair led similar efforts at Google and Facebook, respectively.

Building a Data Compute Engine

Here’s what's behind the concept: When a company wants to analyze data, typically it first has to input all of that information all into some type of database.

Then an engine can be built to bring about answers to any inquires. What Metanautix does, however, is build-in search capabilities for an existing database.

This way, a company doesn’t have to start from scratch in order to get intelligence about customer information, sales records or logistics records.

For example, one of the company’s clients is Shutterfly.

The company’s solution was able to identify what’s known as the “last touch.” This details what the customer did right before making a purchase, be it clicking an online ad or coming in from an email campaign. Such information can help a company craft advertising campaigns or optimize web sites.

Vassilakis was one of the creators of Dremel, a custom search engine used internally for such purposes at Google.

This approach is gaining some traction, with the company recently partnering with Sugon Information Technology to branch out into China. Getting into China is always the open door to tremendous growth, with the country’s population standing at 1.36 billion.

Even Faster Data Outlay

One of the challenges for the work that Metanautix is trying to accomplish is just how fast data is pouring out for both individuals and companies than it was even a few years ago.

For example, the large number of sensors, automated processes, robots and other devices business use produce even more data than what customers or employees create.

“One lesson for us is that the advent of the internet of things is occurring far faster than we imagined, as enterprises are equipping their physical assets in the field with sensors and monitoring them with robots that are themselves data generation machines,” said CEO Vassilakis in a blog post.

To address that, Metanautix hopes to convince others it has the right tools for the job by being able to search through multiple databases and analyze data in real-time.

It’s the type of company and technology that will likely be sought after as big data grows. It could be useful to companies struggling to optimize massive data stores rather than just trying to make broad, general inferences.

Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License  Title image by hodgers